Kirchhoff began his career at FC Mainz, making 56 appearances for the first team, before moving to Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich in 2013.

Since joining the Bavarians he has enjoyed two loan spells at FC Schalke gaining valuable Champions League experience in doing so.

Kirchhoff now joins Sunderland in a bid to help them avoid relegation from the Premier League, and manager Sam Allardyce says he can have a “positive impact” on his squad.

Speaking to the club’s official website, Allardyce said: “Jan has a very good pedigree and even though he is still relatively young he has experience of football at the highest level, including the UEFA Champions League.

“He has real versatility as a player, being comfortable in both the centre back and midfield roles.

“He is desperately keen to experience the Premier League and our job now is to do everything we can to help him settle and adapt quickly to life in English football, so he can have a positive impact on our squad.”

Kirchhoff will not feature in Saturday’s FA Cup clash against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium due to pending international clearance.